Monday, Apr. 04, 2011
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Age: 65
Occupation: President of Sri Lanka
Previous TIME 100 appearances: 0
Since ending Sri Lanka's 26-year-long war against the Tamil Tigers in 2009, and grabbing control over once independent institutions like commissions on human rights and elections, Mahinda Rajapaksa has come to dominate the institutions of his nation more than any other democratically elected head of state. He challenged the U.S., the European Union and the U.N. to prosecute him for war crimes, confident that Russia, China and India would not support it — the latter two have billions of investment at stake in Sri Lanka.